Our Zimbabwe Reporter Honored

â€œThe deeply researched article was complete and did not leave the reader with questions. Interesting facts and examples made the article a read and reread piece," the judges said in a citation for the winner.

INTERNATIONAL

The Black Star News’ Southern Africa correspondent Sifelani Tsiko was crowned the Rainbow Tourism Group/Environment Africa Environmental Reporter of the year for 2006 at a glittering ceremony held at a hotel in the capital, Harare last Friday.

Tsiko walked away with a floating trophy, cash, an all-inclusive holiday package for two at any Rainbow Group hotels for two nights in the Victoria Falls plus two return air tickets to the resort town.

He also got a Siemens cell phone plus a Net One cellular line, a miniature trophy and a certificate. Judges commended Tsiko for demonstrating a great deal of depth in the analysis of the articles he covered.

The judges noted that Tsiko's winning article "Bio-diversity piracy" was reported with outstanding qualities. "The article introduced, explained and set debate on a subject that is fairly new to Zimbabwe, Bio-diversity piracy. The deeply researched article was complete and did not leave the reader with questions. Interesting facts and examples made the article a read and reread piece," the judges said in a citation for the winner.

Last year in July, Tsiko scooped the RTG/Environment Africa Environmental of the Year's second quarter award, which is presented to journalists who would have excelled in reporting on the environment every four months.

Tsiko is a recipient of several other awards adding to his list of personal achievements and contribution to his journalism career.

To comment on this article, or to advertise with us, or to subscribe to New York’s favorite Pan-African weekly investigative newspaper, or to send us news tips, please call (212) 481-7745 or contact Milton@blackstarnews.com